Keyhole - dry suit? wet suit?

[gwest]

I did keyhole back in august without a wetsuit, and was cold but fine. That was when it was ~100F out. I'm thinking about taking friends through it this weekend. Forecast is for mid 70s. Think wet suits would cut it? dry suits needed? Thanks for any input!

[Bo_Beck]

I did keyhole back in august without a wetsuit, and was cold but fine. That was when it was ~100F out. I'm thinking about taking friends through it this weekend. Forecast is for mid 70s. Think wet suits would cut it? dry suits needed? Thanks for any input!

I would think wetsuits would be my choice. It's a pretty short section of actually being submerged and wetsuits would be adequate.

[Iceaxe]

I'm thinking wetsuits should be fine.

[Jaxx]

I also vote wetsuit.

[ratagonia]

I did keyhole back in august without a wetsuit, and was cold but fine. That was when it was ~100F out. I'm thinking about taking friends through it this weekend. Forecast is for mid 70s. Think wet suits would cut it? dry suits needed? Thanks for any input!

It is kind of a false dichotomy. It's cold out these days. I'd do it with a 4/3 wetsuit with the 3/5mm vest over it, right now. The mitigating circumstance is that the canyon is short, and once you get wet, you keep moving pretty good.

Wetsuit, drysuit - whatever. You need PROTECTION. Personally I find using wetsuits to work better, overall. Drysuits are a pain to maintain and keep dry. And expensive.

"Wetsuit" means different things to different people. A 2mm shortee Lake Powell water-skiing suit? nope, not good enough for what we got going now. Generally, full leg, full arm wetsuits are way warmer than shortee wetsuits, for only a small cost in money and weight. Then the question is how thick. Thickness is not absolute, however. How well the suit fits and how tight it is (how little water it lets circulate) make a big difference too. Sooooooooo

right now, minimum reasonable wetsuit would be a tight 4/3 mm suit. More would be nice.

Tom

Tom

[Scott Card]

I don't think I have ever done Keyhole with a wetsuit. But then again, I have only done it in June. This time of year I would wear a full length 5/3 to be comfortable. It is short but VERY cold in that last swimming section.

[gwest]

Thanks for the responses guys! looks like wetsuits will be fine